Serving the Lord is never an easy job, for the preachers may face some problems like economic difficulties, huge mental stress and other issues. However, a few preachers with visual disturbance are still serving the Lord despite all the difficulties.
I. "The Lord chose a weak sinner like me."
J is a preacher with no eyesight. He was born with high myopia, and in 2000, his eyes could already see nothing. J still remembered vividly that it was snowing on the third Sunday of 1989. That day, when he walked out of his house, one voice appeared in his head and whispered: "You must go to a church right now." Then he started asking the people around him about the location of the church nearby. After asking a number of passersby, he finally reached the church.
J walked into the church and full of a sudden he felt like coming home. Since then, he usually discussed with people the knowledge of the Bible, which he was quite eager to learn about. He always thinks that the things he learned at that time are quite helpful for his service till now. He still has the habit of reading the Bible every day and he always requires the believers to read the Bible more often.
Besides, J always prays during his ministry. He has a motto, "Pray is necessary for everything and every single day." He prays for at least one hour except for the prayer before bedtime and meals. Sometimes he even prays for two hours every day.
II. The acts of the Lord revealed in him
G is the director of an orphanage. He is visually impaired and he was an orphan as well. When he was five years old, he accidentally dropped some sap from a tree into his eyes. There was only one unprofessional doctor in his village and he just told G not to wash his eyes with water. His parents were quite ignorant and poor, and that is why G gradually became visually impaired.
Still, G was born into a family with faith in the Lord, but he had an awful father who was addicted to drugs. G became an orphan when he was very young. When G was seven, he heard the words of Christ, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him." Since then, G was sure that he must believe in the Lord, and the Lord would definitely do wonders in him.
G encountered a visually impaired pastor when he was eight. That pastor brought him to Rangoon and sent him to study in a school. Gradually, G got to know much about the Lord. When he became older, G studied in a seminary for four years. Then he served in his hometown for eight years and taught lessons about theology there.
G thought a great deal about his life plan during his service from 2010 to 2017. He had prayed much about that and finally, with the help of the Lord, it came to him that he could do something for the orphans and the poor families. Then he decided to build an orphanage and take in some orphans. To make his goal come true, he paid the down payment for a piece of land, which cost all the money he had saved for more than twenty years. Now he prays for the works of God for he is still facing the huge pressure of orphanage installment.
III. Serving people with disabilities is the mission of the Christians
L was not born visually impaired. She was seriously sick when she was one year old. After taking the medicine, she was losing consciousness in shock. Though she was successfully rescued, she became blind. Her parents wanted to abandon her, but her grandmother disagreed with that and raised her by herself.
When she was older, L studied in a charity house which was built by a missionary. L learned Braille, blind massage, and the words of the Lord there. She cared much about blind people like her and wanted to become a teacher of blind massage so that she could teach other blind people about blind massage so they can earn the money they needed.
During this process, L was lost once too. For a period of time, she thought the most important thing in the world was money. She thought that she could no longer be discriminated against if she had money. In fact, people never called her by her name. They always called her the "blind girl".
"Thanks to the mercy of the Lord." L said when she recalled her life stories. A disease brought her back to the side of Christ. She didn't want to face God with a meaningless life like this. The song “Must I Go and Empty Handed?” really touched L. She kept wondering in her head, "Am I going to face the Lord like this?”. Then she started to pray willing to hand herself to the Lord.
In a summer camp for blind people, L came to know many villagers with blindness. Later, she started a church near the blind massage shop where she was working. She also decided to visit the villagers with visual impairment and cared for them. The sisters and brothers of the church she started would also help her in serving people with visual impairment.
"There are 85 million disabled people and 17 million visually impaired people in China," Sister L said. "Disabled people are the weakest group in society. We Christians have a duty and a mission to serve and help them". This is also the mission and inspiration of Sister L.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
